Bow Wow was enraged at his girlfriend before their violent fight, forcefully snatching something from her, cornering her and getting all up in her grill ... according to a surveillance video obtained by TMZ.
The video taken from their apartment complex shows Bow Wow and Kiyomi Leslie Holden taking an elevator up to their unit after a night of partying. The rapper looks PISSED at Kiyomi Leslie, because he rips something from her hand, and appears to berate her.
The video shows rising tension between Bow Wow and Kiyomi Leslie leading up to their knock-down, drag-out brawl over the weekend in Atlanta, which led to both of them getting arrested for battery.
We broke the story ... Kiyomi Leslie told cops Bow Wow flew into a jealous rage because she was talking to another man at a party. Bow Wow backed her story up, and said she called him a "bitch ass n*****."
As we reported ... after the brawl, Kiyomi Leslie called 911 claiming Bow Wow hit her several times, took her phone and refused to let her out of a bedroom.
We also obtained photos of the injuries Bow Wow says he sustained at the hands of Kiyomi Leslie, and they show deep scratches on his face and bite marks on his body.